Recently, the K-Pop industry send a shock wave around the world with the scandal of Seungri, a member of Korean Boyband Big Bang. He was suspected to be involved in arranging sexual services to bribe his potential investors. The singer ventured into business a few years ago and became a public executive for his night club Burning Sun which is located at Gangnam area. Previously, the stated nightclub was investigated for its involvement in drugs and some shady business behind the scene, which Seungri had allegedly stated that he had no knowledge of this scandal and he claimed that he was not involved in drugs.

However, the police dug further into this case and other crimes started to float to the surface. It was discovered that singer Jung Joon Young was suspected of creating a Kakao talk chat group using his second phone which rapper Zico had mentioned on a television programme about this “golden phone” which Jung Joon Young used in year 2016. The chatroom in the said phone was created by singer Jung Joon Young. The members in the group chat includes F.T Island leader Choi Joon Hyun, Highlight member Yong Jun Hyung, CNBLUE member Lee Jong Hyun and Big Bang member Seungri. In addition, there were other non celebrities acquaintances and a police authority figure were reportedly listed in the group chat. Jung Joon Young had been sending at least 10 videos and photographs of himself having sexual intercourse with his partners in secret between the year 2015 to 2016. In the group chat, they openly discussed about the videos and photos in an explicit and degrading manner. This resulted in a public outroar regarding the misconduct of these celebrities. The public were outraged with the fact that the celebrities viewed women as sexual objects. Two of these women that were featured in the Spycam claimed that they were unaware that these videos were taken secretly.

Ft.Island leader Choi Joon Hyun admitted to the authorities that he was indeed involved in the dirty chat room as a member. He was accused of commenting on one of the photo that Jung Joon Young send in the chat room, stating that the woman has a “good body shape” and circulating the photograph. He was also involved in a drunk driving case which was covered up by the police and kept from the public. This bribery was revealed in the group chat. Shortly after, he announced his retirement from the Music industry. Ft. Island lead vocalist Lee Hong Ki took this matter to Social media Instagram to express his disappointment with a picture of a dog lying deflated on the floor and commented “given up”.

Korean Boyband Highlight also suffered a blow to their public image and reputation when it was revealed that Yong Jun Hyung was also a member of that dirty group chat which was created by singer Jung Joon Young. He admitted to viewing the videos which Jung Joon Hyun posted on the group chat.

CNBlue member Lee Jong Hyun was the other celebrity that participated in the group chat. He allegedly shared about his sexual experiences with Jung Joon Hyun and openly discussed about women that they had slept with in the group chat. His agency had issued a statement about his hiatus from the entertainment scene which apparently does not settle well with the general public and the fans even send a petition to FNC Entertainment which represents CNBlue for Lee Jong Hyun to be kick out of the group which mainly comprised of fans that are women.

Prior to this shocking controveries in the Korean Pop scene, former Sechskies member Kang Sung Hoon was involved in a fraud case which he allegedly took the money which fans donated for his fan meeting in Japan. However, it was cancelled without any legal explanation. The crime came into light later and his contract with YG Entertainment was terminated. He was later revealed to be mentally ill as he broke into his ex manager house and demand explanation about the fraud. This case was complicated due to the misuse of fund and the fact that Kang Sung Hoon had a past record of fraud. He was later accused of being married to the lady that manage his personal fanclub - Hoony World. He posted a message on the Instagram stating his departure from the boyband Sechskies amidst the controversy.

DramaQueen’s thoughts

The Korean Entertainment world were shaken with the recent controversies of these celebrities. As a public figure, it was expected of these celebrities to conduct themselves well in the eyes of the general public. However, these poster boys are humans and nobody is perfect in this world. I am not defending them but I do understand that they were constantly surrounded with temptations and pressures. When the temptation of fast money and fame went into their heads, they made wrong decisions which led to serious consequences.

It is time to stop idolizing these Kpop celebrities because they are merely human. Being a celebrity definitely open up doors of opportunities for them and they may think that they could escape from any form of punishment. This incident showed a shady side of human in general and it made headlines as these celebrities were well known figures in their respective group. I hope justice will prevail as the investigation carried on and the non celebrities acquitance in the said chatgroup will be arrested by the authorities. Seungri and Jung Joon Young had since came out to apologise to the general public for the scandal. Jung Joon Young had also promised to hand over the “golden phone” for investigation. Hopefully, this matter will come to light soon and these crimes should serve as a lesson to everyone that nobody is above the law.